Guelph Storm draft flashbacks 2002

The 2009 OHL Priority Selection will be on Saturday May 2. For 15 straight days, GuelphStorm.com will look back at the first 15 OHL Priority Selections in team history. Today, we review the 2002 draft.

For the first time since 1997, the combined total of CHL games among players selected by the Storm in one draft year exceeded 1,300 games and 8 different players played at least one season of major junior hockey. The 2002 OHL Priority Selection was lacking the superstar of past Storm drafts, but a few players would have solid careers in the league with Ryan Garlock (pictured) and Tyler Haskins topping the list.

The downside for the Storm, was for the second time in club history not a single player chosen finished his junior career in Guelph. In fact, only Danny Taylor and Mark Versteeg-Lytwyn would spend two seasons with the club. Haskins, the team's co-Rookie of the Year in 2002-03 and Garlock would be traded for Kevin Klein and Cam Janssen respectively in deals that would help deliver the Storm their last league championship.

The 2002 draft would be Millar's second last with the club. In an interesting turn of events, he was hired as General Manager with the Sarnia Sting in 2004 and acquired his fourth round pick from 2002. The trading of Versteeg-Lytwyn to Millar and Sarnia brought Guelph and General Manager Dave Barr rugged winger Kelsey Wilson in one of the most one-sided trades in team history.

For the second year in a row, the Storm's second round pick chose the University of Miami Ohio over the OHL. Gloucester's Alexandre Lacombe played four seasons in the NCAA and was one of three different players to go the NCAA route. The Storm's 12th and 13th round picks (Alan Dorich and David Nicoletti) both finished their third seasons in college this spring.

While a handful of players - Garlock, Haskins, Taylor and Alex Penner - have played in the AHL, only Taylor has played in the NHL to date, seeing a single game with the LA Kings in 2007-08.

Below are the Guelph Storm's 2002 OHL Priority Selections picks. The combined Guelph Storm and CHL totals for the 16 players selected that day are at the bottom of the table.

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